Fitting the Pieces
by Aliora
Summary: Picking up the pieces is easy. It's fitting them back together that's hard. Narusaku. [COMPLETE]
1. Last resort

Chapter one  
Last resort

----

They may have called her the Legendary Sucker, but the Godaime Hokage was nobody's fool. Sure, on the odd occasion she fell for a trick. Or two. Everyone had faults, failings they would rather hide. _Her_ weakness was an open one. Though she'd enjoyed relative anonymity during those years away from Konoha, now that she was in a position of great standing it seemed no one minded if she indulged in the odd spot of gambling. It wasn't like the villagers completely ignored her weakness, but instead of regarding her with anger or disgust she'd find them giving her an indulgent smile, or a respectful bow.

"Hokage-sama isn't perfect!" she'd heard one villager whisper to another during one of her excursions into town.

"And that's why she's fit to lead us," the other replied sagely. She watched them nod in agreement from the corner of her eye and wondered why she hadn't applied for the position earlier if a title was all she'd needed for universal forgiveness and respect.

Maybe that's why _he_ wanted it so badly.

She sighed and leaned back in her chair, rubbing at the skin across the ridge of her nose. Perhaps the villagers, too, had underestimated her awareness of the things around her. A sucker she may be, but her obtuseness was limited to the anticipation of a card table or the breathlessness of a pachinko parlour or the expectant hush in the high roller room. When it came to her job and her people, she saw quite a lot, _thank you very much_.

Perhaps they thought her eyes were painted on. Perhaps they hadn't cared if she'd heard. Perhaps they'd intended she'd hear them right from the beginning, in a bid to attract her attention -

_No_. Now she was being ridiculous. There was no need to read so far into things, no point in searching for conspiracies that weren't even there. She'd had a teammate who'd done that, but he was out of reach forever and she would not let her thoughts rest too long upon him. He'd tainted one of her own already with his twisted mind and skewed logic. In his quest for power he had acquired knowledge, loyalty and a young disciple, and in the meantime he'd ruined friendships, families, and the lives of more than one Konoha shinobi.

As Hokage, she felt each loss keenly. It was another wound upon her soul every time he acted against them. She'd never understood why Konoha had to suffer for his gain, and yet she understood better than anyone else ever could. Memories had far more pull than most people knew, and both of them had experienced pain here in the village. She had opted to forget their home, and he had worked to destroy it.

He was good at that, destruction. It came easily to him, a second summons of sorts. She could call slugs and misfortune and the other third of their trio - the base of their triangle - had a talent for toads and friendship. He was good, Jiraiya. Far kinder than herself or Orochimaru could ever be. His eyes saw many things, more than he led others to believe. His roving eye was common knowledge but open secrets usually masked other ones of more import, and the Toad Sannin, the Ero-Sennin, held far more aces than he let on.

He'd seen it first, had known what the boy was and could be long before she'd let herself look - really look - into that clear blue gaze. Naruto's eyes were young yet ageless; he had the eyes of an innocent child that also held the pain and wisdom accrued by the very old. They said that eyes were the windows to the soul, or so she'd once read, and Naruto's soul was the most generous one she'd ever encountered. His eyes were more expressive than the boy would ever know, and sometimes what she spied in their depths pained her because she saw that same elusive flicker in the eyes of someone else.

A clear green, a deep jade, as transparent as Naruto's and as opaque as his as well. Her apprentice shared the boy's hurt and there was tragedy, shattered hope and resignation mirrored between them whenever she saw the two together. Sakura's eyes had become hollow ever since Sasuke's death, and Naruto had taken it just as badly, if not worse.

No. He'd taken it far worse. When Tsunade looked at him she saw the deflation and pain that also etched Sakura's features, but there was something else, a trace of hope laced with bitterness stamped down with self-disgust and fear.

Sasuke was gone, but Naruto was still here. The boy had done the math and it seemed like he hated himself for even dreaming.

He was steady, and she had always been loyal, but Sakura's eyes didn't see as much as she probably thought. Which was why it was up to Tsunade to give her young apprentice a little help, an extra push. They were Konoha ninja, after all, and she had sworn to do everything in her power to take care of her flock. They were hurting and she could foresee a solution, so if she put things into motion now, hopefully they'd take care of the rest themselves.

She stood up. "Genma. Raidou." Her voice was loud in the chill silence of the office. The windows behind her opened out over the village, slumbering quietly in the relative peace of winter. Missions were fewer in the cold months but that was another perk of her position. Not all missions were consigned ones. If a Hokage was devious enough, they could quite freely create their own.

Tsunade was plenty devious, and it wouldn't have been the first time she'd done such a thing. Bureaucracy could be very dull and even Hokages needed a little fun.

The two jounin blurred into attention in front of her and she gave them both a serious look. "I require your services."

They bowed low and waited for her orders, Genma's senbon twitching in apparent anticipation.

She eyed the needle for a moment before continuing. "Bring me Uzumaki Naruto and Haruno Sakura. It's not urgent, but I'd appreciate efficiency in your return."

They straightened and nodded, Genma even sketching a mock salute.

"Understood," replied Raidou, and they disappeared, leaving Tsunade alone in the office again.

She moved to the window and leaned against the sill, resting her chest on her arms and looking out with a sigh. She had been charged with the welfare of all of Konoha, but surely it couldn't hurt to take an interest in these specific two? It was another open secret that she regarded both with fondness, but she tried to avoid outright favouritism. Sakura's strength and thirst to prove herself were traits she remembered from her younger days, and Naruto's unbending will and generosity had saved her more than once.

She wanted them to be happy, and there was nothing wrong with that. But was she going about this the right way? Should she leave well enough alone and wait for fate to play its course?

She sighed again and stayed where she was. It was a gamble, and she didn't have the best luck in the world, but it needed to be taken. Fate was slow and temperamental. If she wanted things done, she'd have to do them herself.

----

Sakura lifted the paperweight and watched the scroll roll itself back up with a whispering crackle. The research had been old and misinformed and her brain ached from trying to decipher the archaic wording. How perfectly ridiculous the early medic-nins had been. Their ludicrous methods had probably caused more ills than they'd cured, and she repressed a shudder at what the scroll had contained. Blood-letting to reduce fevers, removal of broken bones...what had they been thinking?

She picked up the yellowing ribbon used to bind the scroll and tied it carefully back into place. It had been very little help in the end, but had made for an interesting couple of hours nonetheless. She returned it to where she'd taken it from the overflowing bookcase and let herself out of the storage room, shutting the door carefully behind her as she left.

She'd stumbled upon the trove of medic scrolls a few weeks ago, in the hunt for her instructor. Tsunade frequently disappeared from the Tower in the afternoon and more often than not Sakura was enlisted to assist with the search. Usually, Shizune and Tonton were able to find her and drag her back bodily, but on this particular afternoon the Godaime had proven difficult to track down, so they'd broadened the search base. Sakura had become lost down an unfamiliar corridor and had mistaken the room for an exit. She hadn't found Tsunade but she had stumbled on some other interesting finds and returned nearly every day since that time, going through the contents with wonder.

It was intriguing, and distracting, and she cherished the time alone.

Time alone was time away from the sympathetic looks, the pitying glances. It was time apart from the whispers, the murmurs, the hushed comments not meant to reach her ears.

They hadn't been so careful about it, in the beginning, but the first one who'd openly voiced their opinion on the deserved death of the 'Uchiha traitor' had rather effectively been the last. She'd seen red and the speaker had seen stars, thrown as he was through three fences and a brick wall. She'd gotten a stern talking-to from Tsunade and a raised eyebrow from Kakashi, but Naruto had given her a proud smile and told her with brimming eyes that he would have done the same himself. Of course he would have. That's why she'd done it in his stead.

It wasn't that it hurt so much, any more. The loss had instead dulled to the throbbing ache of a knitting bone before rain. It was pain that would never go away because she wanted to keep it with her. It was all she had left of him, and it was a fitting tribute, since pain had been his only gift to her even when he still walked amongst them. She kept the pain and she cherished it, because he lived on in that small way. Some might have considered it a burden, but it was one she was more than willing to carry alone.

Not that she was allowed to shoulder it by herself. Naruto would never let her - _could _never let her - because he blamed himself, thought himself the cause. Everyone had told him that he had nothing to do with the defection and subsequent loss, but he wouldn't accept it and refuted each attempt gently, seriously, with maturity and grace.

"I may not have taken him there," he'd say, those clear blue eyes unwavering and bright, "but I didn't bring him back again." Then he'd smile and change the subject and after a while they all stopped bringing it up. He was still troubled, she could see that, but he too needed time alone.

She wondered if he had the nightmares as well. The dark dreams of hopelessness where even her best was never enough. Sometimes she couldn't remember them but most of the time she did, and her unvoiced concern was that they'd spill out over into wakefulness and taint her conscious actions with the fear that stymied her unconscious ones.

It was probably why Tsunade hadn't assigned her to any difficult missions since that time. Months had passed and she was still only receiving B- and C-rank orders, despite a shortage of qualified shinobi and overworking of most. Maybe there were whispers on her coddling, too, but Sakura had stopped caring for what people thought about her _long_ ago. The perceptions others had of her were insignificant in the end. All she asked was acceptance by those close to her heart, and now that _he_ was gone everyone who counted seemed to care for her too. How nice to be wanted. How stifling. How hard.

She moved down the corridor, having become familiar with the labyrinthine halls by now. She would never have suspected the Hokage Tower would be so big, but the parts above ground were as deceptive as an iceberg, and below it was like a rabbit warren, massive and convoluted. Halls ran every which way and doors lined every panel, and she could see that once she exhausted her current escape-room, she'd find plenty of material to entertain herself in another. The room had become her haven, but luckily, hardly anyone seemed to have noticed her frequent disappearances.

"Sakura-san."

She whirled, startled at the sudden voice. Pressing one hand to her chest she surveyed the intruder with narrowed eyes. Dark hair, scarred face...he was one of the elite jounin in the Hokage's employ. How had he found her? Were her ventures down here not as secret as she had thought?

"Raidou-san." She nodded back politely and gave him a bland look. "Were you looking for me?" It seemed likely. She expected that he, unlike some people, was being kept busy with errands if he wasn't being used on a mission worthy of his skill. There'd be no need for him to roam the halls, passing time.

He nodded curtly, stepping to the side and gesturing for her to precede him down the corridor. "Yes. Hokage-sama wishes to speak with you."

She blinked. Tsunade had sent a jounin to get her? "Do you know what about?"

"No, I'm sorry." He was silent for a moment as she fell into step beside him, and then he gave her a small smile that lifted his scarred cheeks and reached his eyes. "But if I had to guess, I'd say she has a mission for you. You must be aching to do more than just pick through musty old rooms, right?"

She bit the inside of her mouth to keep from gasping and reminded herself that Tsunade was a Sannin, one of the most powerful shinobi Konoha had ever seen. There was a reason her face was on the mountain, chiselled into stone beside four other exceptional nin. She _saw _and she _knew_ and Sakura had been deluding herself to think her jaunts had gone unnoticed.

"Right," she said after a moment, returning Raidou's smile. It held only a little of the warmth his own had offered, but for the moment, it was the best that she could do.

----

Naruto ignored the steps to his apartment and climbed easily up the wall, holding his groceries carefully lest any should remember that gravity applied to them too. It was much faster just climbing up and jumping in, and he wondered, not for the first time, why they even had stairs at all. The windows in nin houses were always made extra wide with this contingency in mind, so why weren't more shinobi principles applied here?

_Maybe in case of injury_, he mused, letting himself in and dropping lightly to the floor. _Also, for the benefit of non-shinobi_. Sometimes he forgot that not everyone could do the things he could do. It was a mindset that had probably carried over from his days at the academy, where everyone was light years ahead of him and he'd always been 'dead last'. Back when friendship was just a word and Sasuke was just a boy...

He blinked away the memories and crossed to the fridge, pulling open the door with more force than necessary. He was shaking again, and really, this had to stop. For his sake, for Sakura's sake, for_ everyone's_ sake, he had to stop letting it drag him down like this. People left and the ones left behind had to pick up the pieces and move on because lives joined with other lives but were fleeting in the end. It had been naive and stupid of him to expect that mere friendship could keep them together. People could be a support or a burden and Sasuke had proven with his actions which category he considered them to be.

He bit his lip and misjudged the distance to the fridge, a jar of mayonnaise slipping from his fingers and shattering on the floor. He stared dumbly at the fragments, bogged down as they were in splattered condiment, and gave an inward jeer at his sluggish reflexes and delayed reaction. _Too slow to stop the fall. All you can do is pick up the pieces._

He shut the fridge and crossed to the sink, grabbing a cloth before returning to the spill. He picked gingerly through the glass shards and threw the large ones into the bin, mopping up the rest when he was satisfied it was safe.

The cut took him by surprise and he didn't notice it straight away, realisation dawning only when his blood left a pinkish smear on the linoleum. He stared at it, transfixed, before letting go of the cloth and bringing his hand closer to his face. It was a small gash, and narrow, but the edges had gotten pretty deep and blood flowed freely, spilling down his palm and pooling on the floor. _Missed a piece_, he thought. _Not so good at picking them all up._

"Nasty." The familiar voice came from behind him, interrupting his thoughts.

He repressed the urge to squeal and counted to three before glancing over his shoulder. "Genma," he returned carefully, unsurprised to see the jounin had made himself comfortable and was leaning against the kitchen bench.

The other man waved. "How have you been, aside from bleeding?"

Naruto gave him a quick grin before getting to his feet, walking around the mess on the floor to get a tea towel from the drawer. He folded it as best he could with his good arm and then pushed it against the wound, wincing at the pressure. "Pretty good," he said after a moment. "Bored. The Baa-san's got me on easy missions for some reason and I've spent more time at home in these last couple of months than I did over the last few _years_ before that."

Genma nodded, pointing with his senbon at the immaculate state of the room. "Looks like you've been keeping yourself busy. Clean, I like it."

Naruto turned away and moved to the sink, dropping the bloodstained cloth on the counter and running water over his wound. "I guess it's not a social call?" he hazarded, waiting for the jounin to explain his presence.

Genma shook his head when Naruto turned back around. "Spot on. Hokage-sama wants to see you and while she said she wasn't in a rush..." he trailed off meaningfully and Naruto knew exactly what he meant.

He grabbed his jacket off the back of a chair and shrugged into it, zipping it up with practiced ease. "Let's go then," he said, walking past Genma and clambering up onto the windowsill.

The other man didn't move. "Don't you want to at least bandage that?" he asked, the needle in his mouth pointing down at his hand.

Naruto blinked. "Bandage what? Oh!" He raised his hand and showed the nin his palm, which was slightly pink but otherwise unmarked. "I heal fast." He turned with a grin and jumped out and off, racing up to the roof with Genma not far behind.

They were halfway across town before Naruto caught the reply and speculative look from the other man. "You don't say," Genma murmured, matching his pace so that they reached the tower in unison.

Naruto shrugged. He was used to it by now. It and the reserve chakra were the only perks of the Kyuubi's unwelcome tenancy in his body. He'd learned to take the good with the bad and it had helped out in the past. There were probably worse things than having a demon fox living inside you.

Probably.

He knocked politely on the office door but let himself in before Tsunade had the chance to tell him to enter. He'd told her a while back that he had the right to go straight through, since it was going to be his office one day, and although her lips had thinned into an unamused line, she'd never mentioned it again.

He stopped once inside, nearly causing Genma to collide with his back. "Sakura-chan!"

She gave him a tired smile from her seat in front of Tsunade's desk. "Naruto. You look well."

He opened his mouth to reply but couldn't bring himself to return the greeting. She didn't look well at all. She looked peaky and pale and seemed greatly weaker than the last time they'd met up, which couldn't have been more than a week ago, at most. Was she eating? Was she sick? Was she -

He blinked when she gave a soft laugh and patted the seat beside her. "You looked so funny," she said, by way of explanation. "Worried and horrified, both at the same time."

He nodded to Genma, who left with a wave, then sat down and wondered if there was a tactful way to say it. _Sakura-chan, you seem to have taken Sasuke's loss worse than anyone else, and I'm afraid that you're making yourself sick from thinking about it. You need to rest, eat and let us take care of you...care for you..._

Tsunade cleared her throat. "If you would be so kind as to listen, Naruto?" Her eyes glinted dangerously and he snapped back in his chair.

"Yes?"

She gave him another steely look before indicating the paper in front of her. "I have reports of civil unrest on the borders into the Wave country, and I want you two to go on a reconnaissance mission and gather information. Be discreet," she gave Naruto a warning look and he shifted uncomfortably in his seat, "and don't reveal your allegiance. I don't care what scenarios or reasoning you employ, just keep it confidential and return in a week." She sat back and ruffled some more papers, apparently finished.

He blinked. "That's...it?"

She glared at him. "Is there something wrong, Naruto?" Her voice lowered dangerously and he thought better of questioning her rather vague request.

"Uh, no!" he replied, getting to his feet and flashing her a winning smile. "Great mission! We'll do our best, won't we, Sakura-chan?"

The girl nodded, standing up as well. "I'll be packed shortly. Did you want to meet at the gates, Naruto?"

"Sure." The gates were as good a place as any, even if it did mean they'd have to go halfway around the village to set off towards Wave. "See you there in half an hour?"

Sakura agreed and they went their separate ways, Naruto returning home and giving his fresh food a mournful look. He shouldn't have bothered shopping today. Everything would be off by the time he returned.

_Oh well_. He packed some lunch and filled his bag with essentials before leaving, locking his window carefully and then bounding off. For whatever reason, Tsunade had finally seen fit to give them a mission. He'd have to treat this an an opportunity to get some insight into what it was that troubled Sakura. He had a fair idea of what it might be, because it troubled him, too.

He sighed and added more strength to his jumps, pushing toward the gates with as much power as he could muster. He'd been chafing unknowingly and it would be good to get out of the village for a bit. And he'd definitely be able to make Sakura feel better. Grief was one thing, but not looking after yourself was something else entirely. There was no point in letting this eat her from the inside. He'd help her out, he'd have to. Everything would be okay.

At least she didn't have the nightmares.

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My first foray out of Kakasaku! I love the Narusaku pairing and I wanted to write something for it, so I asked the fantabulous Nushi (to whom this is dedicated) for ideas on what to write about. The couple doesn't really move her, so she responded with this:

_I have no idea, BUT it does need to have 1) Fighting/yelling followed by hot make-out, 2) Cuddling, 3) Jiraiya (not as in WITH them however), 4) Sakura emoness and 5) Raidou has to make an appearance as well._

And so...here you have it. My filler fic, so to speak. The story is complete in five chapters, and I'll be posting updates every few days. It starts off a bit angsty, but gets gradually lighter, and I'd even go so far as to say it's got a fair bit of WAFF towards the end. :) Thanks also to darkenedsakura for her mad skills, and to sureasdawn, whose beautiful Narusaku ficlet started me down the road to enlightenment. I hope everyone enjoys it, and let me know what you think!


	2. Cry for the moon

Chapter two  
Cry for the moon

----

They made good time out of Konoha and Sakura was so caught up in _moving_, being _active_ again, that it was Naruto who eventually called them to a stop. He was good like that, had learned early on that his stamina was far superior to the lasting power of most and he was always careful to note when people were lagging or short of breath. Deceptively perceptive. But then, he'd always been that way.

They dropped down into a clearing and he rummaged in his pack, withdrawing a crumpled sandwich before handing it to her.

She glanced at the food but didn't take it. "It's okay, I'm not hungry."

His eyes flashed and his mouth turned down. "It's not okay, and I don't care. We're not leaving until you eat something."

_What?_ She hadn't heard him take this tone since their last real battle, and she was fairly certain he'd never sounded that angry with _her_ before. She blinked and gaped but his face didn't change.

He shook the sandwich at her. "Here. If we don't eat them today they won't keep until tomorrow."

She wasn't hungry in the slightest but everyone knew not to argue with him when he got that stubborn tilt to his face. She took the package from his offering arm and let it drop into her lap, fiddling with the paper and wondering distantly if he'd wrapped it in his sleep. It was a messy, awkward parcel, and for some reason it reminded her of someone.

He unwrapped his own food and bit into it, making an exaggerated noise of pleasure at the taste. "Mmm. It's good, Sakura-chan. Tuna, your favourite."

"Is there mayonnaise?" she asked, the faint stirrings of hunger rumbling in her belly. Maybe she did want something to eat. What with all her time-wasting and hall-roaming, sometimes she'd go a whole day without a meal. She'd just forget, and after a while she couldn't eat much even when she did remember to. Luckily, she'd moved out into her own apartment. Her mother would cluck and fuss if she didn't finish dinner at home.

Naruto looked down at his hand and shook his head. "No, I ran out. Just tuna and pepper. It's still tasty though, so eat up."

She took an edge of the careless wrapping and peeled it back gingerly, but the sandwich underneath looked normal and she reminded herself that he'd been living alone for nearly all of his life. He'd been cooking for himself since childhood and when he wasn't eating ramen, his food wasn't too bad at all. Her own attempts at cooking had been rather pitiable in the beginning, and she'd had to swallow her pride and ask him for tips. Ino would never have let her live the indignity down, but Naruto had dropped everything to rush over and give a quick class on how not to burn scrambled eggs.

He was so humbling that it hurt sometimes.

Giving a corner of the sandwich a tentative nibble, she chewed and swallowed before looking down at the bread and taking a bigger bite. She probably could have gone all day without eating again if left to her own devices, but now that the food was right in front of her - and in her mouth - she was suddenly ravenous. She downed the rest of one half in a few more bites, and picked up the other part, catching Naruto's eye.

He looked pleased and relieved, the empty wrapper of his own meal lying beside him. "It's good to eat, Sakura-chan," he said reassuringly.

She nodded and ate the rest, chewing as fast as she could to get the food down her throat. When she was finished, she folded up the paper and put it neatly under a stone, so as not to blow away in the chill winter wind. "Thanks, Naruto," she said after a while, a kind of food lethargy settling over her from eating too much, too fast.

He gave a quick grin and rubbed reflexively at his head. "No worries. You just need to eat to keep up strength. We can't go off on this mission tired or weak."

She nodded again. "You're right. I don't know if you've given our agenda much thought, but I guess we'll camp inside the border and travel to the edge towns each day. I brought some extra clothes and a kit to use, what about you?"

He frowned and grabbed his pack, poking through it. "Yup, some plain clothes, a change of shoes, food..." he trailed off. Something occurred to him and he gave her an apprehensive look. "Um, did you bring the -"

"Tent?" she offered, dangling the packed up tent by the strings of its little bag. He gave her a sheepish nod and she tossed it to him. "You left it at my place the last time we came back from a mission together."

"Really?" He looked surprised. "That must have been months ago."

"It was," she replied quietly. "Nearly four months, now."

The tentative good mood shattered and her stomach heaved, rebelling suddenly against the unexpected meal. She closed her eyes and pressed at her belly, willing the food to stay where it was, and when she opened her eyes again, Naruto was giving her an odd, unreadable look.

"I bought it this morning," he said. "The food, I mean. I hope there's nothing wrong with it, because I wouldn't be able to tell."

It was true. He had a cast iron stomach and never seemed to fall ill, no matter what the circumstances. It would have irked her, were it anyone else, but it was hard not to forgive Naruto anything. And besides, he couldn't help it. It was probably some fiendish mixture of the Kyuubi's power and his own built-up intolerance from a ramen-staple diet of nearly eighteen years. She was glad he'd started eating outside the square. Soup and noodles just weren't suitable for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

"There was nothing wrong with the food. It was good." She gave him a weak smile and brushed some crumbs from her lap. "I just should have eaten slower, or not as much. I'll be fine." She picked at some more crumbs that had managed to cling to her sleeve but paused as Naruto got up and made his way over, crouching next to her, clear blue gaze focused on her face.

"You've got something," he said, reaching out and brushing his hand across her cheek. She forced herself not to react to the soft touch, his callouses scratching lightly across her lips and down over her chin. The moment stretched out and careened in, the world reducing to a pinprick of light that was just the clearing, herself and Naruto's heat on her skin. And then he leaned back, the spell broken, the moment over.

His smile turned down slightly at the corners and he averted his eyes as he got to his feet. "We better get going," he said gruffly, but she stayed motionless for a moment, her face burning in several places at once.

"A-Ah," she said eventually, unable to articulate anything more clever at the time. She reached out to pick up her folded piece of paper just as Naruto bent over with the intention of doing the same. Their hands touched for another brief second before he snatched his back, standing up with a snap.

"Here," he said, thrusting her his own crumpled wrapper.

She took it carefully and stowed it in her pack. He motioned for them to continue and she followed his lead, jumping up into the branches in their renewed journey to Wave.

It had been far too long since she'd been in the company of others, if this was how she was reacting to _Naruto_ of all people. It was high time she put this grief and apathy behind her and moved on with her life. Naruto was just as affected as she was, and yet he could smile and function normally. She was too self-indulgent with her pain and allowed it to consume her as she wished.

She'd have to use this trip as a means to getting back on track, to numb herself somewhat, to move on, so to speak. She needed to treat this mission as an opportunity to change and yet revert, to go back to being that happy girl she hoped still lived inside.

----

Naruto clenched his hand into a shaking fist, and wondered if he could punch himself without Sakura noticing. _Probably not_. She was so quick to spot some things, and achingly slow to pick up on others.

Why had he gotten so close? He knew how she affected him. He could have just let the crumbs stay on her face - it wasn't like they'd be seeing anyone else today, anyway. But some part - the stupid part - had taken over and crossed to her side, letting himself give in and run his finger across her lips.

He was a dreamer, but in many ways a realist. It was the closest he'd ever get to her because even if she miraculously came to care for him, a spectre stood in their way.

_Stupid_. He was stupid. And he'd come so far, as well. She was the only one who made him twelve again and while sometimes he basked in the carefree feeling, more often than not he made a fool out of himself, no doubt reinforcing his perceived immaturity. If he was going to be Hokage - and he was, most definitely, only death could stop him - then he'd need to stamp out this awkwardness before it was too late.

"Naruto." She caught up with him and he turned automatically, finding her looking composed once more. It had been surprising to see that embarrassment and confusion on her face, but he didn't let himself dwell on what it could have meant. Hope was a beautiful thing, but false hope broke hearts and his had never seemed quite whole to begin with.

"Where should we camp?" he asked, more to distract himself than anything else. She glanced away, a thoughtful purse to her lips, and he knew she was processing, drawing up lists and possibilities to find what was safest and best. She'd always been the smartest one out of the three of them. He'd always been the dumb one. The other one had been called a genius, but you only had to look at his decision making skills to see how accurate _that_ label had been.

He felt a sudden heated anger for Sasuke's stupidity, for throwing away his friendship and Sakura's unflinching devotion like they were nothing. That bastard had had it made but he couldn't let go of the past, couldn't submerge himself in the present, couldn't wait for the future. In retrospect, _he_ was the idiot. The dead last. The first to leave, never to return.

Sakura gasped and his attention was back on her in an instant. "What's wrong?" he asked worriedly, eyes darting about them for some sign of danger or an attack.

She shook her head. "No, it's nothing bad. I just remembered that there are some nin-huts near the border outposts and if we're lucky, we won't need to camp out of doors at all."

"All right!" He grinned. That would be much preferable to sleeping in a flimsy tent in a wintry forest. The snow hadn't touched this part of the Fire country, and probably wouldn't, due to their climate, but the Wave country had fluctuating weather and the chance of snow was always there. It was a strange time for a mission, under strange circumstances, and he couldn't shake the nagging suspicion that Tsunade was up to something. Whatever she was planning, it couldn't be that important, otherwise she wouldn't have sent Sakura as well. Still, it was slightly troubling, but it would just have to trouble him later.

"Pass me the map?"

He reached into his packet and grabbed the rolled-up map, throwing it towards Sakura, who snatched it out of the air. She gave the area in front of her a cursory glance to make sure she wasn't going to cross any uneven ground, and then opened the map scroll to get their position. He kept an eye on her as she read in case she did fall, but after a moment she snapped the parchment shut and pitched it back. He caught it and put it away again, oddly disappointed she didn't at least stumble. It was always nice to play the hero. Appreciation was all he could ever expect, and he got it when he helped her out. Not that he had an ulterior motive - he'd do the same for anyone. But there was a depth, an edge, when Sakura was the one in danger, like something inside him twisted free and took over.

"We're close," she called, jolting him from his thoughts. He welcomed the interruption and gave her a grateful smile.

"Okay."

They passed the rest of the journey in comfortable silence. Naruto did counting games in his head to make sure his mind didn't wander again.

----

The outpost huts were things Sakura had only read on and heard about by word of mouth, and so it took them some time to locate one, even with the assistance of the map. It certainly didn't help that the buildings were only vaguely indicated on the piece of parchment, casual x's strewn across the map in a lazy scrawl. She paused and stared at the map again, then looked up, positioning herself in her mind. _This_ squiggle had to be the indent in the hill over there and _that_ bumpy line looked to be the rocky stream bed to the left. And if both of those were correct, then the hut had to be right over -

"I found it!"

Naruto had clambered up into a tree behind her, and she turned to see him pointing down towards a small copse of trees. It wasn't where she'd been thinking, so she surveyed it with a dubious eye. "Are you sure?"

"Yup!" He dropped down from the canopy and straightened, pointing again with certainty before setting off down the hill. She shrugged and followed him, tucking the near-useless map away. She wondered if it had been sourced from the room with the misinformed medical texts, because they seemed to be of a similar accuracy.

They made their way into the copse. The hut was where he'd indicated, making him right once more, and she felt immediately awful for doubting him again. She really should have learned by now that Naruto's gut feelings and general senses were always spot on. Had she always been so reluctant to believe in others, or had events changed and shaped her over the years?

Well, it was all rather obvious, really, so she chose not to dwell on it.

She evaded the drapings of a sturdy fir and nearly barrelled into Naruto's back. Stumbling, she grabbed his arm and righted herself, before asking crossly, "Why did you stop right in front of me?"

He turned to face her with a worried look. "See what's happened, Sakura-chan?"

She glanced past him and got her first real view of the hut, and her heart sank at the condition it was in. It looked rustic and sturdy enough, but at some point a large tree had fallen and smacked down upon it, crushing an entire corner of the building.

_Geez, they should keep a better check on these things_. The wood of the hut had splintered and peeled away upon impact, and the tree wasn't looking much better, lying awkwardly and forlorn atop the shattered wall. All in all, it wasn't too bad, and the building would still protect them from the elements much more effectively than their flimsy tent would.

She sighed and hitched up her backpack, striding forward to the door. "Coming?" she asked, and Naruto hurried to follow. Part of the door frame had been damaged too, and the door itself was lodged shut, but she hadn't learned chakra-strength for nothing, and its obstinate rebellion was soon cut short by the application of a bit of force. She kicked away the last splintered remnants of the barrier and felt oddly satisfied after the random spurt of violence. She was about to make her way in when she felt Naruto's restraining hand on her arm.

"Let me," he said grandly, pushing her aside. "It's a man's job to place himself in danger before a lady."

She blinked at him and let the words process before bursting into laughter. "Have you been taking notes from Lee?"

He made a face before smiling back. "Fuzzy Eyebrows? Like I'd want _his_ advice on anything." He touched his hitai-ate before ducking through the doorway, and she wondered if the action had been an unconscious one. Then she ducked through also and joined him in the hut.

The interior was musty and she wrinkled her nose at the smell, which was a combined one of sweat, dust and the scent of _damp_. It had rained since the tree had chosen to fall, and water had streamed in through the broken wood, forming a murky puddle in the corner. Naruto, ever braver than she was, went forward and swirled the water with the tip of a kunai, grimacing at the result. Then he straightened and turned to her, his face set into a sort of resigned cheerfulness.

"It's good we got here before dark, Sakura-chan."

She tilted her head. "Why's that?"

He moved past her, out of the hut, unzipping his dark jacket and dropping it on the ground. Her eyes followed the fall of the fabric before moving back to his face, a quizzical eyebrow raised at his action.

He grinned. "Because we've got a lot of cleaning up to do." Then he brought his fingers together in a familiar seal and, with a muttered jutsu, a handful of shadow clones filled the clearing.

She watched in muted surprise as he donned the mantle of overseer, ordering one clone to check the ration cupboard for cleaning supplies and another to fetch some water from the stream. The rest he directed to strategic spots around the fallen tree, before gritting his teeth in concentration and creating a whirling ball of chakra in his palm.

"_Rasengan_!" he cried, and then rushed forward, the powerful, explosive and extremely difficult technique known to only a few nin used here for the decidedly mundane task of cutting up a tree.

She moved out of the doorway and watched the spinning sphere cut a hole through the middle of the tree, whorls radiating out from impact but not shattering the wood as she would have expected. He had more control of the technique than she realised and it was humbling again to see how much he'd changed since their genin days together.

Then the trunk snapped through and the clones sprang into action, grabbing the two pieces and heaving them aside before they could do more damage to the hut. Naruto gave his copies a hand, pulling one half of the tree away and then helping with the other, and when both pieces were safely on the ground he dismissed his clones and turned back to her, a triumphant grin splitting his face.

Her heart thumped painfully and she had to look away. He'd changed so much and yet not at all. Events hadn't made him cold and bitter like they had to her, but she shouldn't have been so surprised. Hadn't she always known he was the kindest, most giving person she'd ever met? He changed people; it wasn't the other way around. He humbled her every day, but had she ever affected him?

She glanced back and his grin had faded a bit, and again she felt that horrid jolt that meant she might have hurt him once more. She needed to watch her reactions because she knew things touched him deeply, regardless of whether he showed it or not.

"Good job," she said huskily, and his smile picked up again. "Let's go inside and find a way to mend that hole."

"Okay!" He nodded and picked up his jacket, zipping it back up over his shirt as he walked back inside. She watched the play of fabric over his shoulders before she caught herself and joined him in the hut.

"Right," she said, with more confidence than she felt. "We'll need to mend the hole up there before we do anything else. And then we'll have to sort out that water over there, otherwise we won't be able to sleep from the smell." She rattled off a few more jobs for them to do, pausing when the last Bunshin came trotting back in with two full buckets of water, handing them to Naruto before vanishing with a puff.

He eyed the water, then glanced over at the pile of cloth bandages a previous Bunshin had put aside to clean with. "Which job do you want, Sakura-chan?

She grimaced at the moldy interior and looked up at the roof. "You know, Naruto, I fancy a bit of carpentry. Think you can take care of things in here?"

He hefted the buckets with determination. "I'll do my best!"

Chuckling, she moved across the room, boosting her feet with chakra and jumping up through the hole. She shaded her eyes and checked the sky. Only a few more hours till sunset, and there was much to be done.

She reached into her hip pack and pulled out one of the gloves she used to protect her hands from chakra-strength. _Best to be prepared_, she thought, before dropping down lightly beside the broken tree trunk and getting to work.

Work was good because it kept her busy. She heard a puff of Kage Bunshin from inside and suppressed a smile at Naruto and his work ethic. Between the two of them - well, ten now, probably - they'd get this done. After the hut was sorted out they could work on planning and theory for tomorrow. Following a good rest, they could set out on their mission. She took a deep breath and felt much better than she had in a very long time. She was on a mission again, she was out of the musty reference room, and she was here with Naruto.

He was a comfort, a reassurance, and truly her closest friend. She needed to forget all about those things that dragged her down, and this was the perfect opportunity to do so, away from most of the reminders in her life.

She took another deep breath and swung her hand down, shattering the wood carefully into planks. Distance and fresh air could only do so much. Sometimes violence had to do the rest.

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Yay, another chapter done! Dedicated, as is the rest of the fic, to the beautiful Nushi, with thanks to DarkenedSakura and sureasdawn for their mad betaing skills. A big wave as well to the crew at the narusaku Heaven and Earth forum, for being so awesome and welcoming. Thanks to everyone who read and reviewed, and I hope you enjoyed the chapter. :) See you in a few days!


	3. Everything you want

Chapter three  
Everything you want

----

It took Naruto a good few hours to shape the inside of the hut into some semblance of order. In all honesty, he couldn't care less what the condition was like, but Sakura seemed like she needed something to distract her, and they wouldn't reach the nearest village at a suitable time even if they left now. He'd suggested this with their timeline in mind, putting aside further travelling till tomorrow, and somehow in all of that he'd managed to land himself with cleaning duty.

Luckily, he'd seen worse.

It wasn't that he was unhygienic. Far from it. Like any nin who'd had to wash the blood from his skin, he'd become fanatic about personal cleanliness, and when he wasn't on missions he showered twice a day. The lingering memories of the blood remained forever, but at least the smell dulled over time and at least he couldn't see the crimson stains when he glanced down at his hands.

No, he wasn't unhygienic. He was just...forgetful. And busy. And caught up in all sorts of things that sometimes forced him to be out of his kitchen for weeks at a time. Sometimes he got called away in the middle of preparing dinner. And it wasn't like that time he'd left the fridge open had been on purpose, or anything. Who would have thought that that many cockroaches could fit inside a milk carton? Man, Shino was never going to let him live that one down.

Come to think of it, Shino would have a field day with the varied species of bugs that seemed to have claimed the hut for their own. He disturbed a nest of cockroaches in one corner and beat down a colony of spiders from their webs in another. Mosquitoes hovered over the murky puddle above which Sakura was working, banging wood on the roof with what he could only interpret as malicious glee. He slapped one of the insects from his forearm, wincing at the tiny red splash on his skin. The bastards loved his blood, for some reason, and if he wanted to avoid waking up in lumps tomorrow, he'd have to get rid of them all, quick smart.

Sighing, he dropped to his knees beside the puddle and started mopping.

It was hard work and menial to boot, and he wasn't surprised to find his attention wandering at some point in the repetitive scrubbing. Wipe, wet, wring. Repeat. The bandage he was using turned a nasty shade of green and grew slippery in his hands, but he couldn't be bothered ruining another one. His thoughts drifted off and wandered back to Tsunade and her vague outline of this - in his opinion - _bogus_ mission. What had she been thinking? Perhaps a better question would be, what had she been _drinking_?

Seriously. Their mission had apparently been assigned no rank, but if he was to hazard a guess, he'd made it a _D._ Genin could handle this stuff. Why were they being punished like this? It had been a very specific team assignment, as well. Just the two of them. With Kakashi off on some Stone country recon mission, it was all that remained of Team Seven.

Maybe that had something to do with the old woman's plans. It had been months, and the ache still wouldn't go away. He didn't think that it ever would. That's what happened when someone you'd given a piece of your heart to went away forever. They took that piece with them and it died when they did. Sasuke and Sakura had always had the biggest shares of his heart. Now a piece of Naruto was gone forever and he'd never be whole again.

A while back, after the aftermath, Kakashi had cornered him, interrupting the frenzied training he'd been trying to lose himself in, and tying him to a tree. Naruto had taken the loss very badly and it was a sign of how far he'd gone to have needed his teacher to restrain him in such a way.

"Don't snarl at me," Kakashi had said, a grim tilt to his eye. "I don't care if you're suffering. You're not the only one."

"He was my best friend!" Naruto had growled back, struggling against the wire.

Kakashi just blinked at him. "Of course he was. And you may even remember he was someone else's friend, as well." He gave him a meaningful look before dropping the wire and vanishing, as if disgusted with Naruto's very presence.

He'd sat in shock for a while, the raw edge of his grief fading somewhat from Kakashi's words. He'd been an arsehole and a fool, wallowing in his own pain. Sakura...what must Sakura be feeling? She'd been dry-eyed at the memorial service and he hadn't seen her since that time. She'd been hurting like he was, maybe even more, if he stopped to think. She'd loved Sasuke so much and for so long. She'd never given up hoping for his return. He had been more than a brother to her. He had been _everything_.

Naruto had to help her. He had to be strong. And if he had to lie and pretend everything was okay...then that was just what he had to do.

He rather thought he was succeeding, too, coming back to the present to find the puddle basically gone now, a damp patch on the floor the only legacy that remained. He rolled back to his feet and winced as feeling returned to his legs, before looking over the room, wondering what to tackle next. Still another hour or so of daylight. Best to get this done before then. He crossed to one of the bunk beds and starting batting away the cobwebs

_The Baa-san_ _will be hearing about this_, he thought darkly. It wasn't right for a qualified shinobi to be relegated to cleaning duty. Even if their mission was a highly suspicious one, at that.

----

Sakura flipped the last plank onto the roof and slotted it into place, stepping back with chakra-sure footing to check her handiwork. _Not bad_. It wasn't quite as good as new, but she felt satisfied nonetheless. Not to mention it had been a relief to keep her hands and mind busy, distracted by real work.

She rubbed her palms together in a gesture of completion, suppressing a hiss at jagged snatching she could feel through her gloves. She glanced down and noted with dismay that a number of renegade splinters had left the wood to try their luck on her gloves. Some were sharper than she'd expected and had managed to pierce the black fabric. How ridiculous. She wore them to protect her hands from bruising and possible breakage, and yet a few measly splinters had power to slip right in.

Rolling her eyes, she jumped off the roof and sat cross-legged on the grass, removing her gloves to survey the damage. Two small ones in her left hand, and a long, wicked-looking one deeply embedded in her right. She gritted her teeth and got the first couple out with relative ease, before honing a needle-fine point of chakra from one finger and slicing carefully at her hand to withdraw the other. She was loathe to go too deep and settled with making the point of entry a little wider, before dismissing the chakra and pulling out the piece of wood with her fingernails. It came out and brought a bit of blood with it, but the wound was still clean and she closed it without a thought, skin hissing faintly under the application of chakra.

"Wow!" came Naruto's voice from right behind her, and she repressed the urge to wet herself at how close he'd managed to get without her knowledge. She hoped he'd only been able to surprise her because her body was used to his presence and regarded it as a friendly one. If that wasn't the case then she had _lots_ more training to do. A ninja did not allow people to sneak up on them. The only ninja that did was a dead one.

She turned as soon as her heart stopped racing and found Naruto staring at her with wonderment. "That's amazing, Sakura-chan! I wish I had that much control over my chakra. I'd probably slice off my own arm if I was trying to heal it like that."

She flushed at the praise but waved it off. "It took me years to learn, Naruto. In the beginning, I sliced off more fish heads than I care to remember." Stupid fish. With their big staring eyes, distracting her.

He shrugged. "It doesn't matter, it's still amazing. Are you finished with the roof?"

She nodded and accepted the hand he offered to help her up. "Yup. If you need a hand inside I can work with you now."

His eyes sidled away. "We-ell, it's done. Sort of."

"What do you mean, sort of?" Warning bells went off in her mind. He'd broken everything. Somehow he'd burnt the interior. Maybe the murky puddle held a water demon and he'd -

"Don't worry, Sakura-chan! I'll have the floor!" He said it grandly, but the words meant nothing to her, so she pushed past him into the cabin and got a good look at what he'd done.

The floor was clean. So were the walls and the small sink, close to the door. Even the storage cupboard to the side looked less musty than it had. She gave them all only a cursory glance before focusing on the large, smelly pile taking up one wall. "What the..." she breathed, moving over for a closer look.

The outpost huts always had two sets of bunk beds, because it was assumed a team would consist of four shinobi or less. If there were any more, it became more practical to make an encampment, regardless of the more sturdy shelter a hut could provide. This one had been no exception, and the spindly frames of the bunk beds were in their rightful places on opposite walls. What _wasn't_ right were the three rotting mattresses that made a sloppy pile right near her feet.

"What happened?" she asked, breathing through her mouth.

Naruto scratched his head. "I cleaned the floors and stuff before I even thought of the beds, and when I got to them I found that they'd been ruined by the damp as well. The bottom two," he pointed, "were near the hole and are completely soggy and drenched, while the top one has...er...droppings on it and seems to have something living in it as well." As if on cue a large carpet snake slithered out of a tear in the fabric and regarded them both with unblinking eyes.

Sakura took a hasty step back. She hated snakes.

She turned to the last bunk, the bottom one on her right. There were a few stains across the cover but it at least looked like it could be slept on without too much hassle. "No snakes in that bed?" she asked.

Naruto shook his head. "Nope. This is the only one." Bored by their interchange, the carpet snake retreated back into its foamy nest and she found she could breathe again with it out of sight.

She grimaced. "Well, I guess there's nothing we can do. If you want to get rid of those, I'll see what we can have for dinner." All that chopping and pounding had made her hungry again. Carpentry was underrated.

"Okay," he replied, a trifle deflated. He rustled up a couple of Kage Bunshin and made them take the snake mattress, before putting his back into lugging out the other two. She watched from the corner of her eye, checking the cupboard for supplies.

Whatever else he'd been or would become, Naruto could always be counted on to put a smile on her face. The edges of her lips tickled and turned up, and she pulled two ramen packages from his bulging satchel. Usually she'd whinge at him for packing the noodles for a mission, but just for tonight she'd give it a rest. He'd done well and the place was habitable. The least he deserved was a serving of ramen.

----

Naruto splashed a bit of clean water over his hands after taking the mattresses outside. He wasn't quite sure what to do with them, and in the end, after extricating the stubborn carpet snake, he'd just dug a big hole and dumped them in the ground. Foam wasn't the best thing to burn and he couldn't just leave them to decompose in the open air. Hopefully burying was environmentally friendly. If not...well, too bad.

He wiped his hands on his pants and ducked through the splintered doorway. Sakura had been a tad too enthusiastic in her desire to get in and the poor door had copped the brunt of it. They'd need to find some more wood and knock together a new one but for the time being they could probably drape the unused tent across the gap. Hopefully they'd sense any enemy nin approaching them, and if a wild animal managed to find the hut, sneak in and eat them, then they deserved to get eaten.

Sakura had pulled out a camp stove from somewhere and a pot of water bubbled atop the gas. His mouth watered at the sight of the two waiting ramen bowls sitting open and ready at her side. Suddenly all his cleaning had been worth it. Sakura was not only eating ramen, but she'd instigated the meal as well.

He crossed to her and sat down, staring at the water with predatory intent. He could feel his lips turn up into a slightly manic grin but he didn't care. _Ramen!_

Sakura spied his face and sighed, but the gesture was a good-natured one and she was smiling again. "You're so easy to please, you know."

He nodded, only half-listening. "Yeah, and that's a bad thing?"

She started and almost dislodged the pot, barely managing to right it before boiling water spilled everywhere. She let her hair fall forward to cover her eyes and when she answered her voice was almost husky. "No. It's not a bad thing at all."

She said nothing further as she tipped the water into the bowls and replaced the lids, leaving them to sit while she turned off the gas. He was sorry to have said or done anything to take away the curve of her lips, something he'd seen all too rarely these last few months.

Still without looking up, she passed him a pair of chopsticks and pushed over a full bowl. "Eat up."

He took the food, and frowned at her, weary of these mood swings. "Whatever you're thinking, Sakura-chan, stop it."

She glanced up, looking surprised. Maybe it was his words or maybe it was the fact he'd put talking before eating. It didn't matter. He'd been starving but seeing her like this robbed him of his appetite.

"I can't stop it," she said, tears threatening suddenly. "I can't stop it any more than I can change it."

"You can change it," he replied obstinately. "Everyone has the power to change the future."

"And what of the past?" she asked brokenly. "I can't go back in time to make things all better."

"Then move on," he said ruthlessly, though it tore at him to do so. "No one can change the past but that's why we learn from it and walk forwards. The future comes to meet us with the past at our backs."

She blinked and a single tear spilled over, running down her smooth cheek before catching on the corner of her mouth. He stared at it and stupidly wished he could lean forward and track its path with his lips.

_Idiot!_

"I can't bring him back," she whispered, and he stopped thinking about tears and lips and thought about Sasuke instead. He felt his face grow hard.

"You know what, Sakura? You're being selfish."

Her mouth dropped open and he wondered if had been from the forgotten suffix or the cold, hard truth. He'd never spoken to her like this but someone had done it to him to open his eyes and it was time he did something to help her along. Cruel to be kind, right? He might be hurting them both but it had to be said.

"You're being really selfish," he continued, his own eyes glittering with unshed tears. "Kakashi-sensei got to me just after it happened and he told me the same thing about myself. He said he didn't care if I was suffering and that Sasuke hadn't been mine alone."

She blurred in his vision but he pushed on regardless. This had been building up between them for months, maybe years. Maybe he'd always wanted to shake her, make her listen, make her see reason about their team. "Look what's happened to you. You're pale and skinny, you never eat, I rarely see you train and you haven't been on a real mission since that time. What happened to the strong Sakura-chan I've always known? Were you ever more than a lovesick girl, or were you never a kunoichi in the first place?"

Maybe it was the tears or maybe he saw it coming but wanted it to happen anyway. Either way he took the slap without flinching, let her hand connect solidly with his face, the shock jarring the salt water from his eyes and letting it dribble down across her hand. His vision demisted and he saw her clearly, crouched right in front of him, fingers still spread across his cheek. She brought her other hand up and lay it against the other half of his face, smoothing her trembling fingers against the grooves that lined his features.

"I'm not strong," she sobbed, her head coming forward to rest on his shoulder. He stiffened at the contact and felt her warm breath against his neck, closing his eyes at their sudden proximity. He'd had dreams, but this wasn't quite right; there'd been less grief and more love and she'd been smiling like she used to, innocent and careless and free. And they'd done things because she wanted to and he'd been confident and secure with none of the helplessness or gaucheness that seemed to fill him up right now.

He brought a hand up and rubbed awkwardly at the small of her back, letting her hiccup into his chest. "You are strong," he corrected gently. "Someone smacked a big hole in the door and it sure as hell wasn't me."

She hiccuped again but it was a reluctant laugh as well. "Physically. But inside..."

"Inside is what keeps the outside running smooth," he said, bringing up his other arm so he cradled her shaking figure in both hands. This was okay, wasn't it? He wasn't being annoying or rude?

She pressed into him closer and he struggled to keep his racing heart from ripping though his ribcage. She was too near and yet not near enough, and her warm body and tickling hair were doing all the right things at this very wrong time.

"Sasuke," he said gruffly, and the name caught in his throat. "Sasuke had a dream. Something he worked towards with every fibre of his being. He made choices for that dream that didn't work out and it's our job to not to judge him but to remember him in our hearts and move on."

"A dream," she said contemplatively, her shudders slowing and finally stopping. Her breath fanned out over his collarbone and he resisted the urge to shift uncomfortably, something that would no doubt shatter the moment. He could endure this. He _would_. Who knew when the chance would ever come again. She sniffed and slid one hand down his face, moving it around his chest and encircling his back. "You have a dream, don't you? You want to be Hokage."

"Want to? I _will_ be Hokage." He spoke with a joking confidence and felt her lips turn up against his skin. "You have a dream too, right, Sakura-chan?"

She was quiet for a long while, her breathing growing steady and slower until he thought she might be asleep. "Yes," she said softly, almost startling him. "I want to be the best that I can be, so you all will be proud of me. That you'll one day see my back instead of the other way around."

He glanced down at her back, a tad confused. "You have a very nice back, Sakura-chan," he offered diplomatically, and she shook a little against his chest.

"Not like that, silly," she murmured drowsily, and he wondered what she meant. "Just wanted you both to be proud."

He moved a hand from her back and stroked over her hair. "I've always been proud of you," he said softly. "And he said something like that as well, remember?"

She didn't answer and it seemed like she'd finally given into sleep, her torso resting uncomfortably against him with her legs still kneeling on the floor. He moved and tried to put her down in a position more conducive to rest but she grunted and gripped his shirt, strangely unwilling to be separated from him. He stayed in that position for a bit longer, until his legs became dangerously numb, and then he moved her, very carefully, slipping her head into the crook of his arm and draping the rest of her body across his lap. She murmured something before nosing her face into his armpit and then she stilled, apparently satisfied with her bed for the night.

She was always pretty, had always been to him, and he allowed himself a selfish moment while she slept to trace his fingers down her cheeks. She'd always been the only girl in the world for him, and all he'd ever be to her was her teammate, and her pillow. He allowed himself a tight smile before reaching out to the cooling ramen, picking up the bowl and using her stomach as a makeshift table. Sakura had been exhausted, but that didn't mean he had to drift straight off to sleep.

He unsnapped the chopsticks and stirred the noodles through the broth, bringing the lukewarm food to his mouth. "Itadakimasu," he mumbled, voice loud in the quiet hut, and then he ate, chewing slowly and carefully without tasting a thing.

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Woot! Over the halfway mark now, only two chapters left. Remember this isn't supposed to have much of a plot at all - it's just an exercise in exploring Naruto and Sakura's feelings. I hope no one got too caught up in their mission and the reasoning behind it - everything is just a convenient device to get them closer together. :)

Thanks to sureasdawn and DarkenedSakura for beta-ing, and Nushi for being awesome. Thanks also to everyone who read and reviewed and I've been overwhelmed by the response so far! I hope everyone enjoys this latest installment, and I'll see you in a few days.


	4. Full of grace

Chapter four  
Full of grace

----

Sakura woke slowly from the best night's sleep she'd had since _it_ had happened. For once the nightmares had taken pity on her, and she'd dreamed comfortable dreams of which she could recall only snatches. Something about warmth and love and downy fur on a soft belly...

She opened her eyes. Black material. Chest. Arm. She glanced up. Face. Hair. Naruto.

_Naruto?_

What had she done? Why was she waking up in Naruto's arms? She struggled to get up but his hands clamped down tight on her, preventing her from moving away. She stilled and tried to remember what had happened. She'd been making dinner and then he'd said things and then she'd slapped him -

_Oh_. It was definitely official. She was a pitiable, bipolar, selfish _selfish_ crazy person. She thought back on his wise words of the night before and blushed painfully at the recollection. What right did she have, assuming she'd been the only one affected? Everything Naruto had said was true, and how had she repaid his unflinching honesty, his unwavering friendship?

She'd slapped him, and then cried all over him, and then passed out on top of him in an exhausted stupor. _Good one, Sakura_._ Way to treat your best friend._ She rested back against him and let herself be soothed by the steady rise and fall of his chest. Thump-thump. Thump-thump. His heart was a regular pressure against the shell of her ear and she relaxed, completely at ease in his warm, familiar presence.

Sometimes she felt like everyone expected something from her, that every person who touched her life wanted a different Sakura. Tsunade wanted the bright, capable apprentice. Kakashi expected the uncomplaining hindrance. Ino still saw that awkward girl from so many years ago. To Sasuke, she'd always been annoying and weak.

But to Naruto...she'd always been herself. Nothing more, nothing less. There was no need for masks or pretenses between them. He knew she could be loud and violent. He accepted that sometimes she cried and felt helpless and he always knew what to say and do to make things better again. He saw her, _truly_ saw her, and offered his unconditional friendship from day one. He was always humbling her, always making her realise that there was more out there than she'd always thought. His kindness and generosity of spirit had always been unmatched and she had just never let herself see.

She'd been blind as well as stupid, and her great big eyes had obviously been rendered useless by the weight of her great big forehead. She looked up and saw that Naruto's forehead was creased and his mouth was turned down, affected by a night - well, day - terror that she couldn't see. Gently, so as not to wake him, she reached up and brushed her fingers across his brow.

"It's all right," she whispered, wondering who she was reassuring, Naruto or herself. "Everything's going to be all right."

He sighed and leaned into her touch, skin warm as always against her hand. She'd noticed that years ago, patching up one wound or another. Maybe it was the burning fury of the Kyuubi railing at the world from within, or maybe it was just the warmth of his bright spirit taking on a tangible form. Either way, it had always been like this. Just like Sasuke's skin had always been cool to the touch, shocking her every time she pressed herself against his side. It a fit of romantic aesthetic once, she'd convinced herself he'd burned cold with rage for Itachi, but even that childish notion hadn't conveyed the hatred he felt for his older brother.

At least he'd died appeased in that, having taken care of matters on the familial end.

She was still touching Naruto's face and something inside of her told her not to pull away, just as she realised she was. She hesitated for a long moment, before brushing lightly down across his cheeks, tracing the marks across them with a trembling finger. His skin was smooth and free from bristles, and she wondered if it was a sign of the Kyuubi or perhaps something gained from his own family, whatever, whoever they had been. She followed the contours of his face almost absently and found herself drawing over his lips before she could stop herself.

Her fingers tingled. Her heart forgot what it was doing and paused for a beat. And then the world resumed turning as she snatched her hand away, as if from a flame, her face burning and her thoughts whirling at what the hell _that_ had been all about. What had she been doing, touching him like that? He was asleep; it was like she'd been taking advantage of the poor boy. And after he'd slept in that uncomfortable position all night, too. She harboured no illusions that he'd chosen to sleep sitting up like that. Obviously he'd tried to move and she'd selfishly rebelled in some way. He was too soft-hearted for his own good, really.

Even as she chastised him in her mind, she couldn't help but smile. He'd lifted a weight off her chest last night, gotten her out of her funk. He was the best friend she could ever ask for, and she didn't know what she'd done to deserve someone like him in her life. How wonderful. How fortunate. How did she feel about him?

The thought took her by surprise and not for the first time she wished she only had the one personality. What a pleasant dream, normalcy. She sighed wistfully at the idea and then let the question simmer in her mind, growing and heating until she thought her brain would burst.

How _did_ she feel about Naruto? It was a silly, irrelevant question and yet suddenly the most important one in the world. Everything and nothing hinged on her answer and she felt winded and nauseous from even contemplating the thing.

Ridiculous. He was her best friend and the kindest person she'd ever met. That was all. Her teammate, nothing more. It was stupid to think that there was anything more meaningful in how good, how right it felt, cradled like this in his arms. It was stupid to have her heart beat erratically at the way he'd calmed her, saved her with his words last night. And it was more than stupid to have butterflies tickle her belly at the way his face looked so young, so innocent, so beautiful in the fading touches of sleep.

_Idiot!_

She had to get away from him, out of here, off the floor of this hut that was the world to them in this moment. She hated to wake him but it was more frightening to stay here, alone with her thoughts.

And yet, one last time...

She reached up and let her fingers once more trace over the smooth lines of his closed lips, memorising their feel and softness since she'd never be in this position again. She couldn't, for her sanity. For their friendship. Was she fickle, for even entertaining the possibility? Was it even cheating, when the other person had never felt the same, and was gone, anyway? It was too much, too soon, and yet it was too little, as well.

She clamped down on her emotions and pushed down hard on the floor, getting a bit of leeway in his arms before rolling to the side. She flipped on to the wooden floor and sighed in relief at getting out and away, just as Naruto sensed the loss of her presence and snapped to attention, his eyes instantly focused and awake.

"Sakura-chan?"

He saw her and visibly relaxed, smoothing his shoulders back into less tense lines. "I thought you were gone." It was like he felt the need to explain to her, lips curving up into a lopsided grin. She stared at them, fascinated, before shaking herself out of a potential stupor.

"I'm going to wash," she said abruptly, standing and marching to the door. She felt his eyes on her back until she pushed the tent aside and made her way out, unable to repress the fierce, dark blush that stained her heated cheeks.

----

Naruto watched her storm off, more than a little confused at her weird mood. She'd been so sad and fragile last night, and now, after a few hours' sleep, she was strangely distant and angry at something. Or someone. Maybe she hadn't liked waking up with him holding her. Maybe that had been too forward and she'd been disgusted. Maybe he'd tried something in his sleep and she'd woken up to his hand in places it shouldn't go without an invitation.

_Dammit._ If it was the latter, then the Ero-Sennin would be getting a visit very _very_ soon. If Jiraiya had made him a sleeping pervert there would definitely be hell to pay.

But she hadn't looked entirely angry. She'd seemed almost embarrassed, and maybe a bit afraid? No, he was reading too far into things and that was not his forte. He knew he wasn't the smartest guy around, but he tried to combat that with stubbornness and sheer force of will. Most of the time it worked. Sometimes it didn't. Luckily in a combat situation he had other team members to rely on, because in real life, he wasn't so fortunate. And so he did what he usually did when something was too confusing to dwell on - he stopped thinking about it. If it was really important, it would sort itself out later. And if it wasn't that important, there was no point in wasting time thinking about it.

Especially when there were far more important things to do, like make breakfast. He pushed aside Sakura's congealing ramen and rummaged through his pack, finding nothing terribly exciting in the way of food within. He shrugged and reached out for Sakura's pack, taking out her first aid kit and placing it carefully to the side. There was a packet of oats right down the bottom and he grabbed it, catching the edge of the parcel on something as it came out. He threw out his other hand to grab both things, not wanting to risk her considerable ire by spreading rolled oats through her bag. His stretching fingers caught the edge of something hard and he withdrew both items, placing them soberly in his lap.

Some of the oats rolled down his pants leg but he ignored them for the time being, his attention fixed on the small photograph in front of him. He knew this picture as well as he knew his own reflection, which was fortunate in a way since he was in the shot too. Of course, he'd been much younger then, so arrogant and free, but physically, little had changed. He was taller, of course, and he'd grown into his face a bit, but the other essentials were pretty much all there. They'd all changed, but it was only in little ways.

Sasuke had grown his hair out, he remembered, sporting a ponytail not unlike Itachi's. They'd looked so similar in the end, lying next to each other, faces peaceful and serene but too still and why was Sasuke that white? He's always been pale but now his lips were turning blue and Sakura, you have to save him but you're right, Kakashi, you can't bring the dead back to life.

He blinked and tried not to look at the dark eyes in the picture because they'd been open in the end as well. He'd seen the crimson light of the last true Sharingan bleed back into darkness and then glaze over with the terrifying certainty of _he's never coming back_.

But they'd gone over this last night and he didn't want anyone to say that Uzumaki Naruto was in any way a hypocrite, so he took his own advice and moved on, skipping his eyes across the glossy paper and honing in on Sakura as she had been then. Pretty, of course, with that long fall of pink hair and that mischievous glint in her dark green eyes. She had been pretty, he thought, but she'd grown beautiful before that time. It had become a fragile kind of beauty now, with her pale skin and jagged cut of hair, her eyes almost too large in her wan, drawn face. When she smiled there was a hint of that girl again, and he wished there was some way to turn back time, fitting the pieces back together and making them all whole.

But there wasn't, and he knew it, and she knew it too. Hopefully their talk last night had helped a bit, and they could start looking forwards instead of wallowing in the past. He ran a gentle hand across the glass of the frame and then slipped it back where he'd gotten it from, before pouring some water into the pan and heating up the oats.

He was splitting it into two servings when Sakura returned, putting half in the ramen bowl he'd eaten from the night before and leaving half in the pot, which he offered across when she sat down.

"Thank you," she said, taking it with a steady hand. He blew on his own serving and glanced at her out of the corner of his eye, noting her pink, shiny face and determined eyes. He hair was wet and it curled against the nape of her neck, softer looking than usual and suddenly very interesting indeed. He stared at it until he caught himself, and then busied himself with eating, wolfing down the bland porridge as fast as he could. When he'd scraped the last bits from the bottom, wincing at the faint beef taste it got from the dregs of ramen, he got to his feet and moved to the door.

"I'll wash too," he announced, pushing the tent aside. "And then we can go to the border villages and see if the Baa-san has any idea of what she's talking about." He grinned at nothing and pushed out into the sunlight, suddenly wanting the cold touch of water very, very much.

----

Sakura brushed angrily at the hem of her long-sleeved dress, wishing she could have done this mission in long pants and her vest. It was impractical, wearing dresses, and she wasn't very familiar with what they entailed, so she hadn't packed any warm undergarments or stockings or the like. As a result, her legs were freezing and gusts of wintry wind seemed to hone in on her and lift the flap of her skirt for fun, which in turn caused strange, pervy-looking village men to act very friendly towards her, indeed.

She didn't like it one bit.

It was late afternoon on the fifth and final day of their "mission", and each successive bout of questioning had made it clear that Tsunade had been under the influence when she'd given them this task. Maybe they'd misunderstood. Maybe she'd said "Wave country" and meant for them to go to _Wind _country. Boy, were they going to get their hides tanned if that was the case. But surely they _both_ couldn't have misunderstood. Regardless, thus far, they'd learned nothing. There was no dissent. There was no rebellion. Few people enthused about the government but that was how all societies were. Most people were generally satisfied or truly didn't care. They'd just wasted nearly a week.

She glanced over to where Naruto was chatting animatedly with a couple of village girls. They were giggling coquettishly and one even had the audacity to move closer and touch his arm. Sakura felt her fists clench. The girl looked surprised and said something to her friends which made them all - including Naruto - burst into laughter. A knuckle popped. Maybe the girl had noticed how his skin was so much warmer than everyone else's. Maybe she'd squeezed his forearm and felt the hard press of muscle, the coil of sinew within. Maybe she was _hitting on him right in front of her._ Either way, it was not on.

She wasn't in the best of moods with him already. He'd been incredibly stubborn over the last few nights and it had aggravated her through the day, that and the pointlessness of this task. He was being ridiculous.

He was sleeping on the floor.

After that first night she'd grabbed their bed rolls and spread them out over the least-stained mattress, the only one that had survived the cleanup. When it was time to call it a night she'd killed the lamp and gotten into the bunk, sidling close to the wall and waiting for him to join her. She waited. And waited. Finally, she heard a rustle of fabric as he curled up on the ground.

"What are you doing?" she asked, incredulous. The nights had turned rather nippy and surely he didn't expect to get any sort of rest on the ground.

"There's only one bed, Sakura-chan," he'd replied patiently, as if that explained everything. "You can have it, I'm right on the floor."

"You most certainly are not!" she'd returned explosively, throwing off the flap of the bedroll and padding across to where he lay. "Get up, you idiot, and get in with me."

"No," he'd said calmly, ignoring her shouting right beside his ear. "I'll stay here, thanks."

And, for once, he hadn't budged. She'd yelled, she'd cajoled, she'd threatened violence, and he'd suffered through all of them, replying to the violence with, "Well, if you hit me, maybe I'll fall unconscious and then I'll get to sleep anyway."

Outfoxed by Naruto's logic, she'd eventually had to go to bed. And he'd stuck to it. For four nights. For four _freezing_ nights.

And now look at him! Flirting outrageously with those tarty village girls. Was that one _sucking her finger_? Oh no. No, no, no. That was not right. No one was allowed to get that close to him. No one but -

..._her?_ Sakura blushed, somewhat astounded. Was she actually jealous? Was that question about her feelings coming back to haunt her? Did she actually like him more than a friend? Did she lo-

"Hey."

She turned, disgustingly relieved to be distracted from both her thoughts and the scene affecting them, finding two burly farm youths smiling sunnily down at her.

"Hey," she returned awkwardly, unsure of what to say. Did she know them?

The taller one was blonde, and leaned down casually to murmur conspiratorially in her ear. "Are you the one asking about...dissent among the villagers?"

Her heart pounded suddenly. Was this a lead? Had Tsunade been right after all? "What if I am?" she replied carefully, keeping her face blank.

The shorter of the two had dark hair, and brought a finger to his face, tapping his nose before smiling some more. "Then maybe you should come with us."

She looked back at Naruto but he was still caught up with the stupid girls, and she felt her face harden as she looked away. "Sure," she said casually, flicking her hair back with one hand. "Lead on."

They exchanged a look and indicated a side street, and she followed them down it without a second glance.

--------------------------

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Haha, Sakura, you idiot. :P

Labu and dedications to Nushi, of course, and much gratefulness to DarkenedSakura and sureasdawn for their patience and comments. Thanks to everyone who reads and reviews - I love hearing from you! - and yay for only one more chapter! See you all in less than a week. :D


	5. Carry on

Chapter five  
Carry on 

----

Naruto felt rather than saw the two guys approach Sakura, and it took all of his willpower not to run over and demand what they wanted with her. It would be immature, for one thing, but more importantly, it would blow their cover. The mission was ridiculous and time-wasting, but it was still a mission and certain protocol had to be observed. He settled for fuming quietly and glancing off down the street, waiting for her to come back.

"Were you listening?" One of the girls, the one with the annoying laugh, touched his arm again. While the touch was in no way threatening, it didn't feel quite right either. He wasn't an expert on physical intimacy - he'd been shunned for most of his life, after all. But there was something missing, something not quite right. He didn't get the tingling prickle that Sakura's touch gave him and it felt a bit bland, having these girls so close.

"Sorry!" he said abruptly, cutting off one of them mid sentence. "I have to go now. It's been nice talking to you, bye!"

He pushed past them and set off down the road, veering into the side street that Sakura had gone down. Those two guys had looked shifty. Yeah, shifty was definitely the word. They were too clean and happy to be real farm workers and their smiles had been too big and far too bright. _Definitely_ shifty. They had to be up to something and they'd assumed Sakura was new to town and therefore gentle, easy prey.

His mouth turned up into a wicked grin. If anyone had asked him, he'd be able to tell them that when it came to battle, Haruno Sakura was _anything_ but gentle. It was unfortunate, then, that nobody had thought to ask him. _Oh well_. They'd find out, soon enough.

The side street seemed to drag on forever but it finally turned and he rounded the corner, unsurprised to find that his suspicions were correct. One of the guys held Sakura's hands in front of her while the other one, the blonde one, was running his hands appreciatively down her back, sliding over her hips before reaching out to cup her bottom.

"Aren't you the little blossom?" the blonde crooned into her ear.

She turned, eyes snapping. "Get your hands off me."

"I don't think so," drawled the brunette lazily. "We just might take our time."

"I believe I'll be _taking time_ to snap all your bones, after I do unspeakable things to all your major organs," she replied tightly, a tic appearing in her jaw. "Starting with one in particular."

Both men laughed and the blonde one tugged at the hem of her dress. "There's some unspeakable things _I'd_ like to be doing with something right about now."

Something popped and fizzled behind Naruto, but he barely noticed, heat seeming to rise through his veins and coat his skin in honeyed bubbles of flame. The sound attracted the dark haired man's attention, and he glanced up, his surprised expression changing instantly to one of stupefied horror. "The fu--" he managed, before his head snapped back, Sakura taking that second of inattention to pull her arm loose and give him a cracking uppercut, sending him flying back into the wall.

There was pressure building at the base of his spine but the feeling was irrelevant. All his logic and faculties seemed to be on hold for the moment. The only thought running through his mind was that Sakura was in danger and he'd make these bastards pay. He leapt forward and said something but the words lodged in his throat and a growl came out instead, but it didn't really matter because he had nothing to say to scum like this anyway. Sakura had whirled to face the second guy but Naruto was there faster, crossing the distance between them in the blink of a slit-pupilled eye.

"Oh sh-" was all the blonde guy got out before a red-hued claw shot forward and knocked him against the opposite wall to his friend. Mortar crumbled away from impact and coated his inert form with dust and powder. Naruto turned, stalking toward the unconscious man with no real thought or strategy, just the incredibly overwhelming urge to cut him and hurt him and make him pay with blood.

"Naruto!"

He paused, a strange, cool sensation on his burning hot hand. He looked around slowly to see Sakura gripping his arm, her hands protected by the pale blue glow of chakra, a worried look upon her face. "I'm okay, Naruto. You don't have to do anything else!"

He blinked at her, confused. Anything else? He hadn't done anything _at all_. Her eyes were wide and while they weren't clouded with fear, there was a strange kind of apprehension in them, along with something darker he couldn't quite identify. He blinked again, and it occurred to him that he was still feeling rather hot for some reason, and looking down, he noticed for the first time that his skin was coated in the telltale red glow of borrowed chakra. He cut the connection as fast as he was able to, feeling the fiery smoothness spiral back under his skin to simmer in wait until the next time his control snapped.

When the last vestige of power went back to where it belonged, he stumbled, suddenly clammy and weak. Sakura caught him and let him rest his weight on her shoulder. _Dammit_. The Ero-Sennin had warned him against losing his temper like that. Honestly, Sakura had had it under control. He should have known better.

"I had that under control, you know," she told him tartly, though her hands were gentle where they checked the state of his skin.

His arm tingled and he tried to ignore it. "How many?" he asked, forcing the words through a suddenly dry throat.

She glanced away.

"How many tails?" he repeated, a furious cut to his voice.

She looked back at him and her eyes were calm. "Only two," she replied, her voice steady. "It's okay, it was only two."

He closed his eyes. _Dammit_! Two tails for a minor disturbance like this. His control had been fine those last few missions. Nothing had happened at all. There was no reason for this to have happened. The only thing different was the situation and...the fact that it had been _Sakura_ in danger.

She picked at his palm, holding it between both of her hands. "You're blistering," she said disapprovingly, tracing a careful finger across his pink, raised flesh. "I know you heal quickly but I'll put some lotion on you back at the hut. Let's get rid of these two and then go back. I think we're pretty much bust on this stupid mission anyway."

He nodded slowly, still staring at his palm clasped between her own. Then the moment was shattered as she dropped his arm and went over to the brunette, bending down to grab a leg and arm and heave him onto her back.

"Get rid of?" he echoed stupidly, unsure of what she meant, since the demon fox's bloodlust still rang seductively in his veins.

"Take them somewhere they'll be shown justice," she elaborated. "A police station or something. It's lucky I'm a kunoichi, so I was never in any danger to begin with, but other less fortunate women could certainly have been taken advantage of." She clenched her fist. "We need to make sure they can't try this on someone else."

He managed a smile, the action awkward on his heated face. "You're right, Sakura-chan. Let's take them somewhere nice." He picked up his own unconscious burden and then they leaped as one to the rooftops, skipping across town in search of a place to put things to rights.

----

They dropped their obnoxious packages off at the local police station, waiting until someone came out and discovered the two limp forms before making their way back to the hut. It took a good hour of travelling time to return, so Sakura knew she'd have a fair while to go over things in her mind.

The guys had been sleazy. _Shifty_, even, right from the outset. She would have been far more suspicious if Naruto had been with her instead of talking to those annoying girls, but they probably wouldn't have even approached her if Naruto had been by her side. Maybe it was his fault. Yeah, that sounded about right.

And she'd had it completely under control. She'd been angry, not scared. It hadn't occurred to her even for a second that they'd be able to overpower her at any stage. She'd been waiting for the right moment to retaliate, and even if Naruto hadn't come and gone Kyuubi she would have punched them both into next week. In fact, if he didn't seem so forlorn about the whole thing, she would have slapped him one for his interference.

She stole a glance across at him. His face was set and his eyes were in shadow, and it was difficult to ascertain his mood while leaping through the air. She hoped he wasn't blaming himself for what had happened, even if she _had_ tried to pin it on him only minutes before. Truthfully, it was no one's fault, and nothing had happened anyway, but even if it had, she would only have herself to blame.

She bit her lip. It _had_ been jealousy that had sent her into the side street. She hadn't wanted to see Naruto surrounded by those pretty, giggling girls, girls that led simple, carefree lives the likes of which they as shinobi could only dream about. It hurt to see him with them because it drove home how different she was to them. She had told the truth before, she _did_ have it under control. She was a Konoha kunoichi and that meant she was strong and resourceful. Those guys couldn't have done anything to her that she didn't allow them to, and even as their filthy, lecherous hands had moved down the length of her body, she'd realised with startling clarity there was only one person in the entire world she would ever allow to touch her like this.

And he had big blue eyes, lines on his cheeks, and a heart the size of the Fire country.

It was a funny time to have an epiphany, really. To realise that she loved Naruto while a petty crim groped her butt. Maybe that was the irony in the world, coming in to land. Either way, it had happened, and she couldn't undo the knowledge or the strange, frightening excitement that tugged and pulled at her chest. She loved him, and she wasn't going to lose him. If she was anything, she was gregarious. In this, she'd be getting her way.

----

The trip to the hut was completed in total silence, and Naruto spent the whole time having a heated internal discussion about how stupid he'd been. It had been a sign of how weak he still was, if he still couldn't keep it under control. At least he'd pinpointed the emergence of the demon to one of two things - danger to Sasuke, and danger to Sakura. One was gone now, a contingency he didn't have to concern himself with any more, but the other was right beside him, dropping down into the clearing with graceful, practiced ease.

No doubt she was disgusted. She'd just gotten used to hiding her emotions. He'd have to explain things to Tsunade and request that he not be paired up with Sakura on a mission again. He couldn't endanger her, couldn't endanger any other people with this lack of influence over his own emotions.

He dropped to the ground also and followed Sakura inside, ducking past the tent that had never been replaced as a door. She was ready for him, sitting him down firmly and brandishing a pot of salve with a clear no-nonsense attitude. "I'm putting this on you, Naruto," she said, her voice grim, "and you are going to let me do so without a fight."

"Okay." It was always better to just agree with her when she got like this.

She blinked, apparently expecting more resistance. "Um...good!" She uncapped the jar and picked his hand up, dropping it into her lap before taking some of the ointment and rubbing it between her palms. He tried not to think where his hand was resting and glanced away, but not before catching a pinkish tinge to Sakura's cheeks. Huh? Why was _she_ blushing?

She picked up his hand and started gently smoothing the cream across his skin, a thoughtful, focused look taking over her face. "You know," she said conversationally, "I could have taken those guys by myself. While I appreciated your input, I would have been fine."

Her movements were slow and regular and he felt a sort of lethargy settle over his bones, making it a while before he realised she expected some sort of a response. "I knew that," he said defensively. "I just...got mad, is all." It sounded lame even to his ears, but she went pink again and this time it couldn't be a fluke. Had something happened to her? Maybe those guys had done something to her after all. "Are you okay, Sakura-chan?"

She dropped his hand and fumbled with the cream. "Of course I am!" she replied with a forced kind of heartiness. "Now, give me your other arm."

Obediently he offered his hand and she took it, rubbing the salve into it with trembling fingers. "I'm glad you protected me," she said eventually, staring at his hand as if afraid to look away. "I'm so glad that you've always protected me. You've always looked out for me and I appreciate it so much."

His heart tried to do a back flip but it was wearing concrete shoes, and all it managed was to ram itself against his ribcage with a disturbing amount of force. "Um, that's okay," he said, at a bit of a loss. Usually he'd rub his head in this situation but Sakura had one arm trapped and the other was sticky with salve.

"I've treated you badly," she continued, still staring at his arm. "I've been stupid and blind and such a whiny pain in the arse that I'm surprised you keep me around."

He swallowed. Where was she going with this? He was reading _something_ into it but that would have to be wrong. It was like those crazy dreams he had every so often, the ones that made him wake up in a different sweat to the nightmares. "Ah, you're being weird, Sakura-chan."

She looked up and her eyes were clear, the dark parts larger than he'd ever seen them before. "I'm sorry, Naruto," she said softly, and before he even had a chance to ask her what she was apologising for, she'd leaned right froward and kissed him on the mouth.

----

Sakura felt him stiffen under her touch and jerk himself away from her at once. "S-Sakura-chan!" he cried, eyes bright. "Are you okay?"

She counted to three. "I'd be a lot better if I wasn't feeling incredibly rejected by you right now."

He stared at her, breath coming in heaving gasps. "Rejected?"

Had she misjudged? He'd always cared for her as a friend, was it wrong to hope he felt something more as well? "Well, I kissed you," she pointed out awkwardly. Was she supposed to explain it all like this? Wasn't he _Jiraiya's_ apprentice?

"I know!" he said, eyes still wide. "Why?"

She suddenly felt like crying. Whatever she did always seemed to be the wrong thing. She reached out for the lid to the ointment jar and screwed it on with trembling fingers. "Because I wanted to," she muttered, unwilling to look at him again.

A hand came out to stop her shaky movements and she noted that the skin was already clean and blemish-free. "You wanted to kiss _me_?" he asked, voice breaking at the end. "I'm not Sasuke, Sakura. I'd do anything for you, but don't make me a replacement."

She looked up, horrified that he'd even think such a thing. "I would never consider you a replacement for anyone, you idiot." She snatched her hand back and rubbed angrily at her eyes, biting back an expletive when she got salve all over her face. "You're unique."

He seemed to be holding his breath and she took her chances, looking out from under her fingers. His face didn't seem to know what to do with itself and ran the gamut of emotions from fearful to hopeful, from happy to sad. His eyes were shadowed with pain and she ached for him - with him - because she knew exactly of whom he thought.

"We said we'd move on," she said carefully, picking at her dress. "And those words let me break free of something I've been letting hold me down since I was twelve. You helped me open my eyes, Naruto. You and your friendship and your kindness and your heart. I couldn't live without you."

He said nothing, betrayed no sign of having heard her.

She brought her head up, suddenly angry. "I'm saying that I -"

"I know." He was grinning now and it was sad and hopeful and joyous as well. "Me too."

She blinked. There was water in her eyes again, even after she'd promised, too. "Idiot," she said crossly, a shy smile crossing her face.

"Okay," he said, leaning forward. "What were you doing before I apparently rejected you?"

She sniffed. "I think it was this," she replied and crossed the space between them, taking his lips with her own. He smiled into her mouth and she wondered once more at his generous nature. And then she stopped wondering about his nature and started wondering about his shirt, and the best way to get rid of it without breaking their contact. Or how to take off the pesky dress that had been too light earlier in the day but was now far too heavy and oppressive.

And then as things often did, they sorted themselves out, and then she was bare against the floorboards but he was warm enough for the both of them.

"Sakura-chan," he whispered, the words hot against her neck, and she wondered why she'd never noticed before how much they sounded like 'I love you'.

"Naruto," she whispered back, wondering if the meaning conveyed, and then she stopped wondering for the time being, because thought and reason fled her and only sensation and love remained.

----

"You're a sly old slug queen," Jiraiya commented, sitting casually on one of the windowsills that made up one wall of the Hokage's office.

Tsunade smiled, bringing a languid hand to her her head and flipping back a hank of hair. "I have no idea what you're talking about, you illiterate old geezer."

He jerked a thumb out the window, indicating her two favourite ninja. "Naruto and Sakura. You really are something." The inflection in his voice might have been admiration, so she took it as her due.

"They just needed a bit of help," she replied, walking across the office and leaning against the next window, surveying the pair as they walked off down the street. Naruto was telling some story that required his arms to wave about excitedly, and while Sakura appeared to be listening, something incensed her at one point and she smacked him on the head. They both paused, and after a moment she tugged him down by the hitai-ate, pressing her lips to his scalp. He whooped and grabbed her around the waist, spinning her in midair before placing her back down gently and grabbing her hand, leading her off down the street.

Tsunade smiled again. How nice to be young. They lived in dark times, in a dark world, but these attachments, these moments, could live on forever in their hearts. Her Hokage-in-waiting could do with being tempered a bit, and her young apprentice deserved that light back in her eyes.

And at least with them together, their other piece would still be kept alive in their hearts, living on in their memories and the future they'd build between them. The future of Naruto. The future of Sakura. And the future of Konoha, the village they would help to shape.

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THE END :)

I've never typed that before for a fanfic. This is my first complete one, and wahhhh! What an awesome feeling! I dedicate it to Nushi, for giving me the idea and impetus to keep going with it. Huge thank you to DarkenedSakura and sureasdawn for betaing it, as well.

While I appreciate everyone who took the time to review, I would like to especially thank blackestfaery, Hououza, hinan0, ClassiestMokuren and TVO for sticking by this from the beginning, and leaving such thoughtful remarks. I wish I could single everyone out but then I'd get reported and the story would get deleted and then I'd become a sad panda. :(

I hope the ending wasn't too rushed or anything, I had always planned this to be a five-chapter piece, and this is how it turned out. Hopefully no one was expecting too much plot or insight - this was always just a light fic, written for fluff. I'm sorry for killing off Sasuke, but it hurt me too. (He's one of my favourite characters!)

Anyway, thanks once more for reading the whole thing, and I hope you enjoyed the story as much as I enjoyed the journey. Let me know what you think!


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